NASHVILLE - The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will get nearly $450,000 in federal funds to help combat the state's "methamphetamine epidemic," U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., announced today.
The money will help TBI's anti-methamphetamine task forces locate and investigate meth users and shut down production laboratories.
"I am pleased that the Department of Justice will continue to assist Tennessee in the very difficult and often dangerous fight against the methamphetamine epidemic," Alexander said in a news release.
Alexander, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the funding "will provide crucial resources to the TBI and help support anti-meth task forces among law enforcement agencies throughout Tennessee.
"That will help ensure officers have the tools they need to find the people responsible for making and spreading this dangerous drug in their communities," he added.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is awarding $446,802 to the TBI as a part of its COPS Anti-Methamphetamine Program. It's intended to help law enforcement investigate illicit activities related to the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine.
As a member of the Appropriations Committee, Alexander has fought to continue funding the COPS Anti-Methamphetamine Program in the Fiscal Year 2016 Omnibus Appropriations Bill and the Fiscal Year 2017 Senate Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill.
The senator's office says the Obama Administration has repeatedly tried to eliminate funding for the program.
